Just need the courage to tell you
by iwantliquidluck
Summary: Draco's fancied Hermione since fourth year. But he doesn't have the courage to tell her, even after the battle of Hogwarts.
1. Ever since the Yule Ball

**Chapter 1 – Ever since the Yule Ball**

Draco winced as he heard the terrible scream. It made his blood run cold. The screaming continued and Draco had to force himself not to run forward and shout 'Avada Kedavra' at Bellatrix. As Draco reached for his wand, the screaming stopped, and the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard as Bellatrix went into the Dining Room. Draco waited until he heard the screeching of the chair legs on the floor, which was the signal that Bellatrix had taken her seat next to Lucius and Narcissa. The coast was clear.

Draco rushed out from behind an armchair and to where Hermione lay, motionless. As Draco approached her, he dropped to his knees, tears starting to blur his vision. Hermione's face was so pale, and tear stains could be obviously seen on it. Then Draco's gaze moved to her outstretched left arm and he drew in a sharp breath. On her arm was the carved out word 'Mudblood'. Blood was seeping out of the letterings. Draco could tell it was done by Bellatrix's dagger.

"Oh Hermione…" Draco sobbed, "I'm so sorry."

A few seconds later, Hermione roused and her eyes fluttered open and she gazed up at the boy cloaked in black beside her.

"Malfoy?" the words came out as a whisper.

Draco looked up, surprised and relieved, but he made sure not to show it.

"If you dare to run, Granger, I'll make sure those helpless friends of yours get what they deserve," Draco snarled. He got up, brushed the dust off his trousers and stalked off.

While Hermione watched Draco walk off, she wondered if she'd heard him apologise to her. But before she could give that matter more thought, she drifted off into unconsciousness.

Draco went up to his room and closed the door behind him. He sat down on his bed with a heavy sigh. He couldn't believe that Bellatrix was that crazy as to…Draco shook the thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to think about how hurt and in pain Hermione was. It made his own heart hurt.

Ever since the Yule Ball in his fourth year, Draco couldn't keep thoughts of Hermione out of his head. Every day he would think about her, and every day he would like her more and more. She had no knowledge of this, of course, as Draco kept it well-concealed; he didn't want anyone finding out that he'd fallen for a 'mudblood'.

But what just happened was too much. Draco considered telling his family about his fancying her, but he figured that they would just force them apart, probably even give Draco some wounds to think about. Draco grunted in anger and slammed his fist down onto his bed. Why did his family have to be so obsessed with pure-blood and Voldemort? Why did they have to be so obsessed with being on the dark side?


	2. After the Battle of Hogwarts

**Chapter 2 – Many months later, after the Battle of Hogwarts**

Hermione gingerly stepped across debris lying on the ground: rocks, boulders, bits and piece of the castle lying here and there and…Hermione swallowed. Dead bodies. Many of them. Voldemort was gone, destroyed, forever. Most of the Death Eaters had been killed too. But when she saw familiar faces lying motionless on the ground, she couldn't help but start crying. She didn't cry very loud; she didn't want to draw attention. She just let the tears fall from her eyes.

She stopped beside one of the bodies. It was a fourth-year. Hermione had seen her before, eating merrily in the Great Hall with her friends. She was a Hufflepuff, and Hermione didn't know her name. But just seeing someone whom she'd last seen alive, happily chatting and eating, now lying cold and motionless on the ground, it made Hermione feel guilty. She didn't know why.

As Hermione entered Hogwarts, or what was left of it, she saw even more dead bodies and grieving people. Though they had all been happy and relieved that the greatest dark wizard was finally vanquished, they still had yet to overcome their losses: friends, siblings, children, parents…Hermione slowly walked over to where the Weasley family, and Harry, were gathered. Hermione felt more tears forming in her eyes and she briskly wiped them away.

Hermione stood beside Ron, who was trembling with sobs. A rush of sympathy overcame her. Ron just lost his brother. One of his closest siblings. Hermione looked down at Fred's body. Nobody, not even Mrs Weasley, looked as affected as George did. Fred's twin was lying over his body, his own body shaking uncontrollably. His loud sobs seemed to fill the entire Great Hall, even though there was noise from everywhere else.

The other Weasleys were standing silently, with the exception of Mrs Weasley, who was crouched at Fred's head.

"Georgie…" Mrs Weasley began gently, facing her grieving son, and as she did so, Hermione saw the tear stains on her face.

"It was my fault." George whispered.

"Now don't you think that for a minute-" Mrs Weasley started, but was interrupted by George.

"It was my fault!" George burst out, voice quivering with sadness and anger, looking up at his mother. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. "I was fighting…right beside him. And I told him to hold on. And I went off to call for Lee, for him to help in our fighting off five death eaters. If I had stayed…if I had stayed there, fighting with him and Percy…I would've been able to protect him! I would've been able to be the one who got hit! But I LEFT! And now he's gone!"

George continued sobbing, more heavily now, as Mrs Weasley drew her son into a hug, trying to comfort him.

Hermione felt sorrow overcome her and she looked up at Ron, whose face was now expressionless and exceptionally pale.

"Ron? Are you okay?" Hermione asked, gazing at him, concern in her eyes.

"I'm…I'm fine," Ron replied, sniffing as he said so.

Hermione knew he wanted some quiet time, so she glanced at Harry. Guilt shadowed his face as he stood, just a little way off, from the Weasleys. With one last glance at Ron, Hermione stepped back and stood next to Harry.

"This wasn't your fault, if that's what you're thinking, Harry," Hermione told him, rather firmly.

"Yes it was, and you know it," Harry said quietly, yet Hermione could hear the anger and guilt in his voice.

"Harry, you…the explosion wasn't your fault! Don't be ridiculous!" Hermione hissed, making sure not to shout so as not to disturb the Weasleys while they mourned.

"This whole battle…it started because of me," Harry said flatly.

"So it's Voldemort's fault! It's Voldemort's fault for initiating the fight in the first place by starting the whole battle! It's because he's EVIL, Harry!" Hermione continued, exasperated.

Silence.

Harry sighed. "I know, Hermione, I just…I don't know why, I just feel so..GUILTY."

Hermione put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't be. You've just destroyed Voldemort, Harry. Forever. He's…gone. You shouldn't feel guilty."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I know…thanks 'Mione." He smiled appreciatively, and Hermione smiled back.

After a few moments of silence, Harry said, "I'm going to see McGonagall."

Hermione nodded in understanding. With Dumbledore and Snape gone, people had grown to instinctively accept that Professor McGonagall was now the one in charge.

Harry walked off, shoulders drooping and head slightly down. Hermione stared sympathetically after him. She knew he must be going through an exceptionally hard time now. Hermione looked around her.

Next to the Weasleys, several Order members were gathered around the bodies of Lupin and Tonks. A pang of sadness stabbed Hermione. Lupin and Tonks just got married and had a son. And yet they lost their lives in this terrible battle.

Hermione surveyed the rest of the Great Hall: it was completely destroyed. Half the walls were gone. The tables and chairs that used to be there were now buried under the massive rocks which had once been part of the walls. And above those rocks lay many bodies. Hermione gulped. She wondered who else had lost their lives. Hermione started slowly walking towards them.

She saw many people, students and teachers, gathered in small groups and mourning over their losses. Several teachers and prefects were scurrying around, offering to heal people's wounds.

As Hermione continued walking, she didn't realize she'd actually walked out of the Great Hall and up the staircases of Hogwarts. She just kept seeing so many motionless, cold bodies, some even without people grieving over them. Most of the dead were Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws: hardly any were Slytherins. Anger surged through Hermione's veins. Slytherins. Those despicable cowards. Running away at the first sign of danger, too scared to fight back.

"They probably needn't fight back. They were probably on the dark side anyway," Hermione muttered darkly to herself. She had finally stopped and realized that she was at a balcony. She was surprised that it hadn't been destroyed during the battle.

She leaned on the rocky balcony railing, breathing in the cool air. She sighed and stared up at the sky. A few stars started to dot the pale pink evening sky and she couldn't help but wonder if any of them were Fred, or Lupin, or Tonks.

After being rather mesmerized by the serenity of being up in the balcony, Hermione became quite oblivious to her surroundings. She didn't notice a dark, slender figure slowly make its way up the staircase leading to the balcony she was at.

As Hermione continued leaning on the balcony railing, she was jerked out of her daze when she heard a sudden cracking noise and before she realized it, the balcony railing she was leaning on cracked and broke.

She began to scream in terror as she felt herself falling forwards, towards the ground, which was about twenty metres below her.

She was about to reflect on her life, wish for a quick, painless death, when a hand shot out and grabbed hers.


	3. Just walking by

**Chapter 3 – Just walking by**

Hermione's eyes were still shut tight with fear and she was huddled in a tight ball when she was pulled up to safety.

"Get up, mudblood," ordered a deep voice from above her.

Hermione opened her eyes when she recognized whose voice it was that was speaking to her, and who rescued her from her brush with death. Hermione tilted her head upwards and saw none other than Draco Malfoy standing a little way off, cloaked in black and grime on his face and hands. Parts of his blonde hair were streaked and blackened by dust and dirt.

"Malfoy? What're you doing here?" Hermione asked, still too stunned to actually stand up.

"I was just walking by. Wanted a place for some peace and quiet. But from the looks of it, someone else thought of the idea before me," Draco narrowed his eyes, turned and walked off.

"Wait, Mal-Draco!" Hermione called after him, staggering to her feet.

Draco halted in his footsteps. Hermione took that as a sign for her to carry on.

"Um…I just wanted to say thanks for saving me," Hermione muttered, grateful to the Slytherin for saving her, yet still reluctant to thank him for it.

Draco gave a curt nod and continued walking off.

**~ . ~ . ~ . ~**

"Why couldn't I just have said she was welcome? I could've struck up a conversation, get to know her better," Draco muttered furiously to himself at the top of the Astronomy Tower, heavily regretting that he hadn't spoken to Hermione for a longer time. Draco heaved a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

Suddenly all his troubles and thoughts came crashing down on him: One more year at Hogwarts to go. What should he do? He's a death eater. Should he continue with school? Would he be thrown into Azkaban at the mercy of Dementors? If he continued with school, would he be treated differently? Would his parents force him to go into hiding with them?

Draco felt a sudden reluctance. He didn't want to go into hiding. He wanted to continue with school, strangely enough. He wanted to see Hermione.

Draco sat down, back rested against the wall. Still thinking about the things troubling him, he fell asleep.

"Draco, what in the world are you doing here?"

Draco roused at the voice that sounded very near him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Pansy crouching next to him, a very worried look on her face. Next to her, but standing up, was Blaise. His face was grave.

"Came up to think. Fell asleep," Draco answered Pansy's question, still half asleep.

"Your parents are looking for you, you know. And the Minister just came. Yeah, the new minister's Shacklebolt. He's rounding up all the death eaters. Most of them got away, but the aurors caught some. Your parents are looking _everywhere_ for you, trying to stay out of the aurors' reaches. And mind you, the aurors are looking for you too," Blaise explained instantly.

Draco leaped to his feet. "Where are they?" he asked, his voice rising in panic.

"Calm down, Draco. No where near here. Most of them are in the Room of Requirement," Pansy assured him. Draco grimaced as she said 'Room of Requirement'. Goyle lost his life there. But he forced any pity he had for Goyle to the back of his mind. He had to worry about himself now.

"And Draco…the aurors are angry. Once they saw the bodies of those two, Lupin and Tonks, they became real pissed. They vowed to catch all the death eaters, Draco. You should run. Go find your parents, then run and hide," Blaise advised him, his face still serious.

Draco nodded. "Thanks Blaise, Pansy." He hurried down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, making sure to stick to lonely corridors which were not lit by the wandlight of any aurors.

After searching many different passageways and corridors, Draco entered the Slytherin common room. He held his breath as he saw three aurors inside, looking around. After a quick peek from just outside the common room, Draco decided his parents weren't there. As he turned to walk away silently, he heard familiar voices shout "Stupefy!" and he turned back.

As he stepped into the common room, he saw the three aurors lying motionless on the floor. They were still alive, Draco could tell, just stunned.

"Draco!"

Draco looked up and saw his mother coming towards him. She embraced him, sobbing with relief that he was alive.

"Draco, we have to leave. This place is not safe anymore. The aurors are after us," Lucius told him curtly. Draco detached himself from his mother and looked steadily at his father.

"But father, where do we – " Draco began to ask, but he was cut off when none other than Kingsley Shacklebolt himself stormed into the common room, glaring at the three Malfoys in front of him.

Draco stood rooted to the spot. He couldn't move.

Kingsley narrowed his eyes angrily at the three of them. He addressed Narcissa first. "Mrs Malfoy, you're free to go." All three of them widened their eyes.

"I…no. No. Please, take me. Let my son and husband go," Narcissa pleaded.

Kingsley shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that. I will have to take Mr Lucius Malfoy with me," as he said this, Kingsley turned to look at Lucius furiously. Draco could tell he was _really_ angry about the deaths of Lupin and Tonks.

"What about Draco?" Narcissa blurted out, concern evident on her face.

Kingsley looked Draco up and down disapprovingly and finally said reluctantly, "He can go. I am aware that he is a death eater, but a poor one at that. I know he hasn't done his job. I know he's innocent. But Mr Malfoy will have to come with me." Kingsley started to advance quickly towards Lucius, who narrowed his eyes.

Lucius exchanged a fast, apologetic glance with Narcissa, who gasped the words, "Lucius, no!" and disapparated.

A look of sheer fury appeared on Kingsley's face, who had lunged forward to seize Lucius too late. He turned to face Narcissa.

"Where has he gone?" he asked slowly, aiming his wand at her.

"I don't know," Narcissa replied, looking as shocked as Kingsley looked angry.

"_Where has he gone_?" Kingsley demanded, arm quivering with anger.

"I don't know!" Narcissa insisted, almost pleadingly.

"I'll give you five seconds, and if you don't – " Kingsley was saying, but was interrupted.

"She said she doesn't know, how many times do you want her to say it, are you deaf? Or are you just prejudiced against us because of my father?" Draco cut in accusingly, glaring at the minister.

Kingsley narrowed his eyes into furious slits. "This. Is not called _prejudice_. Your death eater father has just disapparated to who-knows-where, and I would expect that his _wife_ would know!" he answered, spitting out every word.

"Well she doesn't! You can use the Cruciatus curse, but I am pretty sure that that's prohibited, or, also known as, _unforgivable_. And I do think the use of Veritaserum is not allowed unless you have very good reason, and not just because you merely suspect someone," Draco added, returning the angry glare Kingsley gave him with an icy one.

Draco's icy stare unnerved some, and Kingsley happened to be one of them. With a frustrated snort, he lowered his wand, but continued to glare at the both of them. "Now, if Lucius Malfoy makes contact with either of you…I shall know." Kingsley turned and stalked out of the common room.

Draco turned to his mother. "Mum…are you alright?" he asked, concerned, as his mother still looked distraught.

Narcissa nodded.

"…Do you know where father's gone?" Draco asked again.

Narcissa shook her head. "No," she whispered, "But he did tell me that if ever we were in a situation like such, and he would have to…leave, he would. But he would give me warning. He never told me to where he would disapparate to."

Draco nodded in understanding. He knew his father liked to be secretive. And with this kind of things, he would usually keep it even from his own family.

"Draco, let's…let's go home. Come," Narcissa beckoned for Draco to follow her as she walked out of the common room.

Draco took one last look around the common room and followed.


	4. Normality

**Chapter 4 – Normality**

Hermione was walking back down to the Great Hall when she glanced out of a broken window. She saw two black figures hurrying away from the broken-down castle. Even from this distance away, she could recognize them as Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, from their blonde hair. _Why're they running away? And where's Lucius Malfoy?_

Hermione ignored them, though some tiny part of her wondered what would happen to the Malfoys now.

"Mum, let me go back to Hogwarts for school," Draco pleaded with his mother, who was sitting across him in another armchair. They were back in their manor.

Narcissa sighed. "Draco, we have to sort things out. I'm sorry, I'm very busy at the moment. Everything is happening so fast and so suddenly."

Despite her hating her at points in time, Narcissa grieved for her sister, who lost her life because of the Weasley mother. Narcissa's face darkened considerably when she thought about how Molly Weasley killed her sister.

"Mum, what's wrong?" Draco asked, noticing his mother's change in expression.

"Nothing," Narcissa replied, forcing herself not to feel prejudiced against the Weasleys. They were friends of Harry Potter, after all, and he had let her know Draco was still alive.

"Draco, go and get yourself cleaned up. I shall talk to you later," Narcissa ordered.

Draco nodded, though slightly reluctantly, and trudged up the stairs to his room.

Once upstairs, Draco changed out of his dirty, soot-stained clothes and into new ones. He shuddered slightly when he again recalled how he had so remarkably been saved from the fiend fyre by Harry. He remembered how the flames licked and roared around him, singing his clothes slightly.

Draco went to the bathroom and splashed ice-cold water on his face. Realisation dawned on him.

_Voldemort was gone. The battle was over. _

He should be feeling ecstatic. But yet, he couldn't explain the feeling in his heart. It just made him feel so…desolate. His mother was right: everything is happening too quick, and too suddenly. Everything was a mess.

A loud crack suddenly sounded outside the bathroom and Draco instinctively reached for his wand. Or, more like, his mother's wand.

"Master Draco, Mistress would like me to pass this to you," a timid voice of a house elf sounded outside.

Draco stowed his wand and opened the bathroom door. "Thanks, Sezar," he added curtly as he took the small bottle of Firewhiskey handed to him.

Sezar gave Draco a deep bow and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him as he did.

Draco sat down on the side of his bed. Lifting the small bottle of orange liquid to his lips, he downed the whole bottle of Firewhiskey in a matter of gulps. Feeling the familiar burning sensation of the liquid flowing down his throat, he set the now-empty bottle onto his sidetable and lay down on his bed, all of a sudden feeling completely exhausted and worn-out.

Slowly and gradually, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

When Draco woke, he felt his head aching. Sitting up, he rubbed his forehead and tried to recall his dream, or more like his nightmare. He remembered loud noises, explosions, screaming, shouting, and in the midst of all that, one cry rose above the others. A cry filled with angst and pain.

Draco grunted in frustration. He dreamt of the war. The Battle. He vaguely recognised the cry. It was from a Weasley. One of the twins, if he wasn't wrong. Draco got up from his bed and walked downstairs.

He sat down on an armchair. Narcissa was coming out of the dining room. The moment she saw Draco, she hurried over and sat down across him.

"Draco, your father is a wanted man. I don't think it would be safe if you returned to Hogwarts, even if it's your last year," Narcissa began anxiously.

"But, Mum, they won't hurt me. Voldemort's _gone_, Mum, and they'll know that I've done nothing wrong. If I really _did_ do something wrong, they know I wouldn't go back there. I've been there for six years, Mum. I know what they'll think," Draco argued.

Narcissa hesitated.

She sighed. Then she nodded. "Ok, Draco. But you _must_ promise me, that no matter what, should you be put in danger by anyone or anything, leave immediately, do you understand?" she asked seriously.

Draco nodded.

"We'll go to Ollivander's tomorrow to get you a new wand. We'll try and get your school supplies too. I am quite certain that there won't be many people around in Diagon Alley next week. We have to avoid crowds now, Draco. At least until everything goes back to normal."


	5. Back to school and a certain ball

**Chapter****5**** – ****Back****to****School****…****and****a****certain****ball**

Hermione looked around. She was on platform 9 and ¾. Still no sight of Harry or Ron. She observed the people around her. Most of them looked generally happy, though there were a few whose faces were downcast, and Hermione thought she could see tear stains on their faces.

"Hermione!"

Hermione spun around when she heard her name. The moment she caught sight of Ron, she flung her arms around him in a big hug.

"Ron! Are you alright? How is…how's everyone?" Hermione asked.

Ron pulled apart and smiled. "We're…we're fine. Honestly."

Hermione wasn't quite sure. Fred's funeral was an exceptionally sad one. Memories of the funeral flooded her mind.

_Hermione__stepped__back__after__placing__a__rose__on__Fred__'__s__grave.__After__her,__George__stepped__forward.__Hermione__had__never__seen__him__like__this__before:__exhausted,__depressed,__and__above__all,__empty.__He__just__looked__…__empty._

_ George__leaned__down__and__put__a__leather__box__with__a__big__letter__W__on__it.__It__was__a__Weasley__'__s__Wizarding__Wheezes__product._

_ Hermione, being quite nearby, heard him whisper, "Bye, Freddie. See you soon, alright?"_

_ Then he stepped back. _

_ The rest of their time there, everyone was murmuring their silent wishes to Fred, followed by tears and sniffles. Hermione herself cried, too. _

"Hey, have you seen Harry?" Hermione suddenly asked, not wanting to remember such a morbid event.

Ron shook his head. "But he should be here any time soon…"

Sure enough, they turned and saw Harry hurrying up to them, pulling his trolley which, on top of it, had his trunk.

"Harry!" Hermione ran forward to hug her best friend.

Harry chuckled and hugged her back. "Hey, we should get on now," Harry said, checking his watch.

Ron nodded in agreement. Together, the three of them boarded the Hogwarts Express. They sat together in one of the compartments and sighed.

"Everything's gonna be different at school now, won't it?" Hermione asked.

"No kidding," Ron replied, "Ginny says she heard from Dean that McGonagall's Headmistress of Hogwarts. No Headmaster, apparently."

"No Headmaster? But that's…that doesn't seem…I dunno, right," Harry replied in shock.

"Exactly," Ron nodded, "That's why everything's gonna be different."

For the next half-hour or so, they chatted about what they did over the holidays, carefully avoiding any details that might involve Fred, Lupin or Tonks. They weren't up for another episode of crying.

"I'm going to go change, are you two going to?" Hermione asked, taking her school robes and standing up to leave.

"Sure," Harry and Ron replied simultaneously, also taking their robes.

Hermione walked to the girls' changing room on the left, past the Slytherins' compartments, and Harry and Ron headed to the boys' changing room on the right, past the Hufflepuffs' and Ravenclaws' compartments.

As Hermione was walking past the last Slytherin compartment, she glanced inside it. She almost got a start from what she saw.

A gaunt, pale boy sitting across another two Slytherins. She recognised the other two as Blaise and Pansy, but she hardly recognised Draco. He looked terrible. His eyes looked even more vacant than they were before, his hair wasn't styled back nicely; it was ruffled, and he looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep in weeks.

Just as she was about to walk off, Draco looked up. Hermione gave him a polite and awkward nod and hurriedly walked off.

"Where's my badge?" Hermione wondered anxiously after changing into her robes, searching the floor of the changing room, "I remember taking it, so I can't have left it in the compartment…"

Hermione hurriedly retraced her steps out of the changing room.

"Granger," Hermione felt a hand clamp around her arm. She spun around.

"What, Malfoy?" she almost hissed, very worked up in her search for her badge.

"I think you dropped this," Draco let go of her arm and handed her her Gryffindor badge.

"Oh…thanks," Hermione muttered, taking the badge from his hand and pinning it onto her robes. She smiled.

She was about to walk away, but something made her ask him, "Are you alright?"

Draco looked slightly taken aback by her comment and replied, "Yeah. I'm fine." He turned and went back to his compartment, sliding shut the door before he sat back down across Blaise and Pansy.

Hermione, still slightly curious, walked back to her compartment, where Harry and Ron were waiting for her, already changed.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked.

"Sorry, I lost my badge…Malfoy gave it back to me," she added, putting her original muggle clothes back into her trunk and taking her seat next to Ron.

"_Malfoy_ gave it back to you? Malfoy's going back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked, widening his eyes as if he expected the blonde-haired Slytherin to be thrown into Azakaban.

"The question is, _why_ did he give it back to you? If I know him, he'd throw it out of the train or hex it before giving it back to you," Ron said, eyeing the badge on Hermione's robes suspiciously.

"He won't do that. Anyway, he's looking really terrible, I wonder what's happened to him," Hermione wondered out loud.

"Hermione, why do you care about whether Malfoy looks terrible or not?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, he's one evil little git," Harry agreed, nodding as he said so.

"He's not that evil a git, Harry. Not when he saved my life," Hermione said exasperatedly.

"He saved your _WHAT_?" Ron exclaimed, mouth and eyes wide open.

"My _life_, Ronald. I was on the balcony after the battle and it crumbled and broke. I could've fallen to my death, but he pulled me back," Hermione explained.

"And why didn't we hear about this before?" Ron asked again, raising a brow.

"Because I knew you'd react like this," Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Of course we'd react like this! You almost _died_, Hermione, and someone saved your life and it wasn't _us_ and you didn't even tell us!" Ron burst out.

"Well, sorry then," Hermione apologised.

"Calm down, you two. It's just a small matter, don't have to get so worked up over it. And we're reaching soon," Harry cut in, looking outside the window. They were nearing.

Ron cast a slightly annoyed look at Hermione and stood up.

Harry and Hermione followed him out of the compartment and the train.

The three of them took their seats beside Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Hey Neville, how was your holidays?" Hermione asked.

"Great, thanks. My gran praised me for fighting the battle so well," he added proudly, beaming.

"That's great!" Hermione commented, also smiling.

"Attention!"

Everyone in the Great Hall became silent and looked up at McGonagall.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts. Now, I understand that after the battle, some of you may still be affected. However, I am still pleased to know that so many of you came back to Hogwarts this year. I would like to caution _all_ of you that a certain Death Eater is still at large. Please try to stay within the school grounds at all times. I do not encourage you to wander about to Hogsmeade during your time here. It is unlikely that this Death Eater will be lingering around Hogsmeade, but we must never take chances," McGonagall continued, a grave look on her face.

Hermione swallowed. She couldn't help but wonder if the Death Eater could be Lucius Malfoy.

"And of course, we hope you have a splendid year at Hogwarts. Enjoy the feast," McGonagall finished, stepping back and sitting at the long table behind her.

Dean and Seamus, who were also sitting nearby them, cheerily greeted Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Hey, this year's gonna be the House Ball for us, isn't it?" Seamus asked excitedly.

"House Ball?" Harry asked curiously.

"Right!" Hermione smacked her forehead with her hand, "I can't believe I'd forgotten about it! The House Ball is a ball held annually for students finishing their final year at Hogwarts!" Hermione recited what she'd read in Hogwarts: A History.

"Why's it called the _House_ Ball then?" Ron asked, looking like he'd gotten over his row with Hermione earlier.

"Well…it means we have to go with someone who's not in our house. The point of this ball is to celebrate our final year at Hogwarts and with people not from our own houses," Hermione said uneasily. She didn't like the idea any more than Ron did.

Ron groaned. "Oh great."

Hermione, from the corner of her eye, saw Ginny looking unsettled.

"And, even worse, the House Ball is…" Hermione trailed off. She couldn't bear to say the words.

"Is…?" Harry prompted.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Is in a week or so."

"_A__week__or__so_? How're we supposed to find someone to go with in a week or so? And we're gonna have so much homework in our first week!" Ron said, almost spitting out the bits of chicken in his mouth.

"Oh you're kidding me," Dean groaned, "I thought it'd be at the end of the year or something. At least a couple of months."

"And even _worse_, if we have the ball in a week or so, that means our exams will be only a week or so from then! We won't have time to study and revise!" Hermione moaned, frowning unhappily.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't mind exams, Hermione, how in the world are we supposed to find someone to go with, from a different house, from our year, in a _week__or__so_?" Harry asked, agreeing with Ron's previous comment.

Hermione sighed. "Honestly, you have loads of time to find someone. All you have to do is pluck up the courage, and ask them early. It can't be that much trouble. I think exams would be more of a problem," Hermione said, looking worried again.

"Draco, remember what happens this year?" Pansy asked Draco, who was jadedly picking at his food with his fork. He wasn't in any mood to do anything after hearing McGonagall mention that 'a certain Death Eater was at large'. Draco knew that that 'certain Death Eater' was his father. He glanced up when he heard Pansy talking to him.

"What?" he asked, uninterested in whatever she had to say.

"The House Ball! It happens every year for students in their final year at Hogwarts, and it's in eight days!" Pansy told him enthusiastically, obviously oblivious to how exhausted he was.

"…House Ball?" Draco asked, sitting up. He stopped picking at his food.

"Thing is, you gotta go with someone _not_ from your house," Blaise added.

Pansy gasped in horror. Apparently she hadn't figured out why the House Ball was called the _House_ Ball.

"_Not_ from our house? And this thing is in eight days? Well that's bloody brilliant," Draco muttered, once again resting his head on his palm.

"Exactly!" Pansy burst out, "I mean, who would want to go with some loon from Ravenclaw? Or-or some weakling scrap from Hufflepuff? Or even worse, a _Gryffindor_? They only consist of half-bloods and mudbloods. The only pure-bloods there don't _deserve_ to be called pure-bloods because they're all blood traitors!"

Draco felt irritation burn in him as she insulted the Gryffindors and he fought the urge to hex her.

"Shut it, Pansy. You'll find someone," Draco said nonchalantly, finally taking a scrap of food from his plate and putting it into his mouth. He thought about the House Ball as he chewed his food. _Eight__days.__Eight__days__to__ask__Hermione__…__unless__someone__asks__her__first.__I__have__to__make__a__move__soon._


	6. Another secret admirer

**Chapter 6 – Another secret admirer**

"Ron, could you help me out here? I can't seem to find my Transfigurations textbook," Hermione asked, not looking at him as she searched through her thick stack of books.

"Transfigurations? Why'd you need that?" Ron asked, getting up from the armchair he was sitting on, across from Harry.

Hermione rolled her eyes and faced him. "Because the Transfigurations essay is due tomorrow, and I'm only half done!"

"Trans…Transfiguration essay?" Ron asked again.

Harry had gotten up from his seat and was approaching both of them. "Hermione, didn't Professor McGonagall say that was due next week?" Harry asked, his voice slightly panicky.

"No, Harry, _Charms_ is due next week. Transfiguration is due tomorrow!" Hermione sighed, looking from Harry to Ron and back to Harry again. "Please don't tell me you two didn't do a single thing?" she pleaded.

Harry and Ron looked ridden with guilt.

Hermione groaned.

"What have you two been _doing_ the whole of yesterday?" Hermione asked, "How can you possibly afford not to pay attention on the first day of school?"

"Well, we've had…important things to worry about," Harry protested, slightly meekly.

"Yeah, and we're quite busy with Potions! Look at this assignment Snape's given us! _Two__full_ rolls of parchment, Hermione!" Ron agreed, gesturing with his hand for emphasis.

"Oh, _that_ assignment. I finished it yesterday during the break between Potions and Charms class yesterday," Hermione said nonchalantly, still searching her stack of books.

Harry and Ron exchanged a bewildered look.

"Found it!" she suddenly squealed, snatching out a thick, brown book from the stack. She turned to her best friends and sighed. "Do you want to do this essay with me?" she asked.

They nodded eagerly and dashed off to get some parchment and quills. They knew that 'doing an essay with Hermione' usually meant 'letting Hermione tell them basically how to write the whole essay in a very short time'.

Hermione grunted in amusement and sat at the study table in the common room. She flipped through the pages of her textbook, taking notes and continuing to write her essay.

A minute and a half later, Harry and Ron came back and sat at the table, across Hermione.

"Ok, we have about an hour to finish this. Dinner's in exactly an hour and ten minutes, and ten minutes is slightly more than enough time to get to the Great Hall and get a good seat," Hermione said briskly, checking her watch.

During the course of the next hour, Hermione managed to finish her essay (which was two rolls of parchment longer than the required amount needed) and helped Harry and Ron with their one-and-a-half rolls of parchment essay (they'd also made it a point to write with quite big lettering with lots of spacing).

"Alright, we're done! Let's go!" Harry declared, standing up from his seat and rolling up his parchment.

"Yeah! Blimey, I'm starving!" Ron complained, also standing and rolling up his parchment messily in his haste to leave.

"Wait, wait! I have to keep my stuff first! I can't just leave them lying around! What if it gets stolen? Or what if someone needs to use the table, but can't because all our stuff is lying around?" Hermione said, closing her textbook and stacking it neatly on top of her other books. She began to slowly and carefully roll up her parchments.

"Oh come on, Hermione, everyone'll be down at the Great Hall. We'll just come back early or on times or something, no one'll take them!" Ron sighed, exasperated.

Hermione hesitated. "Oh alright, alright…" she sighed eventually, abandoning her stack of books and writing materials to follow Ron and Harry down to the Great Hall.

Luckily for them, Neville had saved them a seat beside him. The rest of the Gryffindor table was full.

"Thanks, Neville!" Harry said breathlessly, sitting down beside him and taking food from the table and putting it onto his plate.

"No problem," Neville replied, already eating some spaghetti.

Dinner was good; Hermione, Ron, Harry, Neville and Ginny chatted a lot, though Hermione could see that Ginny was beside herself. Her eyes didn't light up the way they did when they usually chatted this happily. Hermione could understand. And she sympathised with her. Losing someone special to you was painful, and left scars.

While they chatted, it was mostly about the House Ball.

"So, Neville, have you got anyone?" Ron asked curiously, and Hermione could tell that he was hoping Neville didn't.

However, to Ron's dismay (as Hermione could see), Neville nodded. "Yeah, asked Luna just yesterday at lunch," he said, smiling as he did so, "How 'bout you?"

Ron sighed and shook his head. "I honestly don't know who to go with! I mean, I don't know many Hufflepuffs, I don't want to go with a bloody Slytherin, and I don't know that many Ravenclaws either to-"

"_Ravenclaw!_ That's it!" Harry suddenly interrupted, practically standing up from his seat.

"Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, Gin," Harry was beaming, and he sat back down again.

"What's up?" Ron asked, looking at him closely.

"Nothing…I just think I've figured out who to ask," Harry said, slightly smugly.

Hermione saw Ginny looking a bit out of place. "Do you boys have _anything_ else to talk about than the House Ball?" Hermione asked, "I mean, aren't you worried at all for the upcoming exams?"

"Upcoming exams? Hermione, the nearest exam isn't very near at all," Harry pointed out.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to study. I'm going up to the Common Room to do some revision. Coming, Ginny?" Hermione asked, getting up from her seat.

Ginny, looking relatively relieved, nodded and followed Hermione up to the Common Room.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked Ginny when they were back in the Common Room.

"Of course I'm alright, why wouldn't I be?" Ginny asked, smiling at Hermione.

"I can tell, Gin," Hermione said quietly and seriously.

Ginny's smile faltered and her mouth trembled. She sat down on the couch and Hermione took her seat next to her.

"It's just-it's just…everything is so…_wrong_. Ron doesn't say, he doesn't show it, he's better than me at hiding his feelings. Everyone at home is distraught. Mum and Dad try to make it okay, they smile and they try to comfort us, but they were several times when I heard them crying together in their room. Bill writes to me and tells me how he and Fleur are coping. I know Bill well enough to know that from the way he's doing, he feels terrible too. Charlie's come back from working in Romania and he hardly talks. Percy makes it a point to work overtime in the ministry. He claims he wants to earn more, but he just wants to get away from home, away from the memories. He feels so guilty. You can see it. And George..." Ginny was sobbing now, and her voice dropped to a whisper, "…George is the worst. He doesn't talk, or smile, or joke, or laugh, and he rarely leaves his room. I tried to enter his room one night, but the lock was enchanted. The door wouldn't budge. I could hear him crying. It was worse than mum and dad's. I could hear him crying and blaming himself. I could hear him crying and saying how he wished it was himself who died instead. And above all that's happening with my brothers and mum and dad, I miss him. I miss Fred. I miss him so much. Losing a brother feels terrible. I don't know how I'll be able to continue living with it. And even above all that, there's still school. And I thought…I thought the person I'd be telling all this to would be-"

Ginny cut her speech and broke out in intense sobs. Hermione put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"Shh…Ginny, listen, losing Fred is terrible, and you need time to get used to it. To accept it. I know the truth is always hard to deal with, but it's also easier to tell yourself. It's easier to tell yourself the truth and to accept it, than to tell yourself a lie and try to trick yourself into believing it. Trust me, Ginny. And I'm always here for you, Gin. If you ever feel like just letting it out, I'm always there," Hermione soothed her.

Ginny sniffed and sat upright and turned to look at Hermione. "Thanks, Hermione," she said simply and gratefully, wiping her tears off her face.

Hermione smiled warmly. "It's alright," she replied.

"By the way, um, could I borrow your Transfiguration textbook?" Ginny asked.

"Sure, hold on a moment," Hermione said, getting off the couch and taking her textbook from the study table. Hermione handed it to Ginny, who was still sitting on the couch.

"Thanks," Ginny said, taking the textbook and smiling, "For everything."

Hermione smiled and nodded understandingly.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I just lost sight of it for a few minutes and when I came back it was gone and-" Ginny suddenly burst out the next day.

"Ginny, slow down, what's wrong? What happened?" Hermione interrupted.

Ginny took a deep breath. "I was in the Great Hall, and I went over to speak to Neville for a few minutes, and your Transfiguration textbook was on the table, and when I went back to my seat, it was gone! I'm so sorry!" Ginny explained, her voice rising with panic.

"Ginny, listen, it's alright! We'll go look for it! And we'll find it, don't worry!" Hermione said encouragingly.

Ginny nodded and they both went down to the Great Hall. The Gryffindor table was empty. The Gryffindors had gone back to the Common Room after breakfast.

Hermione and Ginny searched the long wooden table twice. No textbook.

"Um…Hermione, I've got Charms class now, so…" Ginny began slowly and hesitantly.

"It's ok, I'll look around the Common Room, you just go to Charms," Hermione said, smiling.

Ginny nodded uncertainly and went up to Flitwick's classroom.

Hermione slowly made her way up to the Common Room, looking for her textbook on the way.

While walking along one of the corridors, Hermione heard someone call her name and she turned around.

The person walking towards her, to her relief, was holding her Transfigurations textbook (she had written her name on the cover). However, the person was someone she didn't expect.

Draco shuffled up the staircase.

"Bloody potions, what a bore," he thought, taking as long as he could and dragging his feet along the corridor leading up to Snape's classroom.

Halfway through, he heard voices. Normally, he would just walk past the talking people, but their conversation caught his attention and made him freeze.

"Um, Grange – er…Hermione, um…would you, ah, like to go to the House Ball with me? I've got absolutely no one to go with so…" Draco heard Blaise's voice.

Shock and outrage shot through his veins. Hermione was being asked to the House Ball…by _Blaise__Zabini_?


End file.
